Rules and Regulations for Interschool Chess Tournaments
The following information has been extracted from documentation provided by organisers of the
tournaments. Although it may be seen as overwhelming initially for beginners, students should not be
deterred from competing as assistance and support is available. All ages and abilities are welcome and
encouraged to participate.
Tournament Rules – Rules of Chess
The official FIDE (World Chess Federation) rules of chess apply to all Interschool Competitions.
Interference by any players, parents, teachers or other spectators will not be accepted under any
circumstances – this includes trying to help players by correcting illegal moves or pointing out a player
has forgotten to press their clock.
Stalling is a tactic that is not allowed for games without clocks.
If players have any problems they need to raise their hand and an arbiter will assist them.
Draws by threefold repetition or 50 move rule cannot be claimed unless moves are being written
down, the players agree or an arbiter has seen the repetition.
Tournament Rules – Time Controls
Games with clocks will be 15 minutes per player giving a maximum per game of thirty minutes.
Games without clocks will be adjudicated after 25 minutes (see process below).
Where rounds progress very quickly (primarily regional areas), coaching will take the place of extra
rounds.
Tournament Rules – Scoring
Players will score one (1) point for a win, a half point (1/2) for a draw and zero (0) for a loss.
Team scores are the accumulated scores for all four players in that team added together
Tournament Rules – Tie Break Methods
Fixed Roster Tournaments
Ties Between Teams
o Match points ‐ 2 points per win, 1 point per draw, 0 per loss.
o Median Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores discounting highest and lowest
o Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores
o Progressive – Sum of progress scores
Ties for Board Prizes
o Individual Match Result – Between tied players
o Sonneborn‐Berger Scores – Sums of opponents beaten plus half the scores of drawn
opponents
o Number of wins
Open Swiss Tournaments
Ties Between Teams
o Median Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores discounting highest and lowest
o Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores
o Progressive ‐ Sum of Progress scores
Ties Between Individuals
o Median Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores discounting highest and lowest
o Bucholz – Sum of opponent’s scores
o Progressive ‐ Sum of Progress scores
Tournament Rules ‐ Adjudication
Due to the limited number of clocks that can be provided at tournaments, there comes a need for
arbiters to adjudicate games once games reach the 25 minute mark (given that game duration is a 30
minute maximum).
o Adjudication involves the arbiter stopping play, asking whose move it is to play, and assessing
the position and declaring a winner or draw based upon the position.
This decision is based upon the best moves the arbiters can see for both sides and
NOT solely on the number of points (pieces) for each team.
Players may appeal the decision on the spot, but will have to show good reason for
the appeal to be upheld.
Tournament Rules – Format
Where possible, Primary (grade P‐7) and Secondary (grade 8‐12) students will be split into separate
tournaments.
In the event of a Premier team’s event, there must be no less than seven (7) teams for the event to go
ahead. If there are under seven teams, Premier and Open will be combined.
Premier divisions are restricted to the top teams, to a maximum of twelve, with the proviso that
unless otherwise impractical no more than two teams may represent any one school. A promotion
and relegation system will operate between premier and open divisions, whenever practical. Premier
divisions will be played as Swiss tournaments in term two (2) and Fixed Roster event (i.e. team Vs
team) in term three (3).
Open Divisions will be played as individual Swiss tournaments, open to all players, with the provision
that players from the same team shall not play each other.
One team per 100 (or part there‐of) participants in each region in term three will qualify for the
Queensland Interschool State Finals held in Brisbane in term four. These teams will be the highest
placed teams, in the highest division of that region.
When there are a large numbers of players participating, tournament may be split into grades.
Players are placed in teams of four (4). In order to participate, we need not have a complete team of
four.
Players may play other students from their school, however not from their team.
Tournament Rules – Prizes
Teams: Medals and/or Ribbons for members of each team finishing first, second and third.
Individual Prizes: Medals and/or Ribbons for best individual performances